Progress of Modernisation Plan

Resource Type: Image | Posted on 7th November 2011 by Liam Physick

This double-spread, again taken from the 1957 issue of Facts and Figures about British Railways, begins with a table showing the “Total Tractive Stock” of Britain’s railways since 1938. Note the steady fall in the number of steam locomotives and the dramatic rise in diesel and electric locomotives from 1952 onwards. On the right, we have a chart showing the dramatic expansion of diesel traction at the end of each four-week period in 1956 - no mention is made of the problems encountered with many of these, as detailed in “Dieselisation and electrification”. At the bottom of the left-hand page, it is mentioned that diesels have proved “popular with the travelling public”. This is probably true as they were quicker and more efficient, although the travelling public would have been better served had the transition to diesel traction been more carefully thought out than it was

Progress of Modernisation Plan

Tagged under: steam locomotives, british rail, diesel locomotives, diesel multiple units, electric locomotives, modernisation plan

Categorised under: Landmarks, Landscapes & Locomotives

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